Meet me at the Manger
Eighty years of dust and dirt, straw and soot had to be cleaned off the 18 figures. It was Trinity Cathedral’s Mae Fameli who did the work.
Part of Pittsburgh’s Christmas Past finds home at Cathedral
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Mae Fameli, a Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh,
employee for 34 years, cleans the baby Jesus, one of 18 figures that
make up the old Allegheny Courthouse Nativity display. Fameli remembers visiting the figures several decades ago when they were displayed every year at the county courthouse. |
Eighty years of dust and dirt, straw and soot had to be cleaned off the 18 figures. It was Trinity Cathedral’s Mae Fameli who did the work.
“I’ve
always loved dolls,” she said while touching up the baby Jesus’ face
with a bit of Murphy’s Oil Soap, “This is the most precious one.”
Not only precious because of whom it represents, the Courthouse Crèche is also a unique piece of Pittsburgh’s history. One
of two sets created of plaster-of-paris and fiberglass during the
1920’s by the Joseph Poli Company, the collection of 42-inch-high
figures stood in the courtyard of the Allegheny Courthouse building for
decades. The other set was displayed at the Phipps Conservatory in Schenley Park. Fameli, for her part, remembers trips to see the Crèche during the Christmas season some five decades ago. It’s not clear when the Creche was displayed there for the last time. However,
the figures had been in their storage crates for years when the
Department of Parks and Recreation auctioned them off in 1998.
It
wasn’t until this past fall that the gift of a generous donor allowed
the Cathedral to purchase the set from Jim Osella, a church antique
dealer in Canonsburg. Though Osella had owned the set for six years, he declined several opportunities to sell it. He hoped to see it displayed in Pittsburgh again. According
to Bishop Robert Duncan, the anonymous philanthropist who is making
that possible is a communicant of one of the parishes of the Diocese. “The donor’s gift enables our diocesan Cathedral to become the new home for something that was part of Pittsburgh’s Christmas holidays for many decades. I know I can speak for the whole diocese in saying ‘thank you,’” he said.
While
a complete restoration of the figures, many of which have small
scrapes, or other minor damage, will have to wait at least one holiday
season, members of the Diocese, Pittsburgh area residents and visitors are invited to visit the Courthouse Crèche in Trinity Cathedral between December 16 and February 2. According to the Rev. Cathy Brall, canon provost of the Cathedral, the figures will be set up in one of the narthex tower rooms. The Cathedral is open from 8 am to 5 pm on weekdays as well as for worship on Sundays. Bishop Duncan will officially bless the Courthouse Crèche during the Cathedral’s Christmas Eve service at 11 pm on December 24.
Created by
pfrank
Last modified
2005-03-03 09:54
